1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns electrical connections between conductors of an electrical cable and electrical terminal pins such as pins mounted on a printed circuit board and/or rigid electrical component leads, more particularly for connections between electrical equipment chassis, printed circuits, electronic components and electrical components with rigid connections.
Connections between conductors and rigid pins may be implemented using conventional wire-wrap technology.
The object of the present invention is to provide a modular connection terminal with which such connections may be made easily and quickly and providing also for making and breaking all the connections concerned as and when required.
2. Summary of the Invention
The invention consists in a modular terminal for electrically connecting electrical conductors of a cable to rigid electrical terminal pins, comprising: a plurality of generally U-shaped individual contacts each having one arm adapted to make contact via self-stripping edges with one electrical conductor and another and flat arm adapted to press on and make contact with one of said pins; at least one substantially parallelepipedal contact support comprising a longitudinal internal groove which opens onto its top surface and has a rounded bottom, a series of external compartments along each of its lateral surfaces parallel to said internal groove and a series of internal compartments along each of the longitudinal walls of said groove which open onto its bottom surface, each of said external compartments on one side of said groove receiving the arm of one of said contacts adapted to make contact with the electrical conductor and being aligned with one of said internal compartments on the other side of said groove accommodating said flat contact arm extending along the top of said internal compartment and the corresponding pin extending along the bottom of said internal compartment;
an insulating member fixed to each contact support and formed with an internal space at the top adapted to house electrical conductors of a cable; and
a generally cylindrical rotary cam formed with two diametrically opposed flats, mounted in the groove in each support in contact with said flat contact arms and bearing on said rounded bottom of said groove, whereby said contacts are pressed simultaneously into contact with respective pins when the part-cylindrical portions of said cam are brought into contact with said flat contact arms.
Other objects and advantages will appear from the following description of an example of the invention, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.